Obama Didn’t Scrap Officers’ Memorial Day

A:No. That claim was made in a fake news story that also falsely said the annual memorial for fallen officers was canceled by former President Obama.

FULL QUESTION

Did Trump reinstate a day that Obama took away for fallen officers?

FULL ANSWER

President Donald Trump has not “reinstated” a “national day of remembrance for fallen officers” that former President Barack Obama “canceled.” That claim was made in a fabricated story published in May on several websites that circulate fake news.

The made-up story said: “President Trump made Barack Obama look like a complete fool this morning in front of more than 10,000 police veterans when he announced that he would reinstate a national day of remembrance for fallen officers that the traitor before him had done away with.”

It also included this fabricated quote from Trump: “Police officers in this country will no longer be treated like criminals. Obama decided your fallen didn’t deserve to be honored. That changes today. Americans will remember those that keep our streets safe big time.”

We found no record of Trump ever having said that.

Facebook users flagged a version of the story that appeared on TheExaminer.site. Some readers may have noticed the post includes this note: “We at uspostman cannot make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information.”

That’s because TheExaminer.site published a version that was originally posted on Uspostman.com, and that website attributed the story to Guerilla.news, which says on its Facebook page that it is intended “for Donald Tramp [sic] supporters.”

Guerilla.news published the story on May 7, but that was one day after it already had been featured on a number of unreliable websites.

That website, according to its Facebook page, claims to be “an unbiased page which tries to bring you the latest and hottest topics from the US politics stage.” Instead, it’s a partisan website that regularly posts fake news stories, usually attacking Democrats.

In reality, Trump was at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, the weekend of May 6, when the concocted story alleges he told a large crowd of officers that “Obama decided your fallen didn’t deserve to be honored.”

Trump’s own White House has acknowledged that Trump was carrying on a tradition, not reinstating one, when he participated in this year’s service for fallen officers.

“Every year since 1982, members of our law enforcement community, their families and friends have gathered on this day in Washington, D.C. to mourn the fallen and remember their heroism through a memorial service,” a WhiteHouse.gov blog post by Vice President Mike Pence says. “Yesterday, we upheld that tradition once again as we gathered at the U.S. Capitol to pay our respects to the sacrifice and memory of the fallen.”

Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to help identify and label viral fake news stories flagged by readers on the social media network.